


That time Squirrel Saved Lancelot

by theRavenMuse



Category: Cursed (TV 2020)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:20:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25514176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theRavenMuse/pseuds/theRavenMuse
Summary: Lancelot saved Squirrel from the red paladins, now it’s up to Squirrel to bring Lancelot to safety. No plot, terrible dialogue, but all of the feelings. :)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 148





	That time Squirrel Saved Lancelot

**Author's Note:**

> I literally wrote this in just a few hours and didn’t even read through it so here you go lol

It was the second day of their ride when Lancelot started slipping from his saddle, Squirrel grabbed his arm and pulled it tight over his shoulder to steady him. He twisted Goliath’s mane into his other hand to brace himself. Lancelot was a lot heavier than him and it took great strength to hold him. When the reins slipped from his fingers, Squirrel grabbed them and looped them over his wrist. Lancelot leaned his head into Squirrel’s shoulder with a moan. “We’re almost there” Squirrel promised. In truth he didn’t know how far away they were. He had been lucky to find the runes leading to the new camp, so he knew they were headed in the right direction, but he didn’t know how far they had yet to go, and he didn’t know how much time Lancelot had left. He rode through the second night, afraid that if he stopped, he wouldn’t be able to get Lancelot back onto Goliath. By the dawn, the great horse was starting to tire. His head hung a bit lower and he stumbled over rocks on occasion, but kept plodding on faithfully. 

It was nearing midday on the third day of their ride when squirrel first heard the rustling in the woods. A half mile on he heard it again, and this time he caught movement in the corner of his eye. It was gone as soon as he turned his head. “Who’s there?” He called out. Lancelot muttered something unintelligible into Squirrel’s shoulder. Squirrel glanced back at him and when he turned back to the road, he could see the figures. They were off in the trees, easily a few dozen on each side. As they closed in, he could see that they were Fey. They didn’t say a word as they moved along beside the riders. Squirrel, for once in his life, didn’t dare to say anything. They must be close now. They followed the fey along a narrow side trail that wound through the trees. They passed through a narrow crevice and a canyon opened up. The fey had built there homes into the sides of the canyon and into the trees that grew tall within it to reach the sunlight. Squirrel stopped in the middle of the village and jumped down from Goliath’s back. Lancelot slid off after him and stumbled when he touched the ground. Squirrel caught him as best he could, but he still fell into a heap in the dirt. Fey guards circled them, lowering their spears to Lancelot’s lip form. “Get back!” Squirrel knocked one spear away with his hand and kicked another one. 

“Let me pass!” Arther commanded, pushing his way through the circle. 

“Tell them to drop their weapons, Arthur!”

“Squirrel, this man is the weeping monk. He’s a servant of the red paladins and a murderer of the fey.”

“Not anymore! His name is Lancelot and he saved my life. And now he needs help. He needs a healer.

Arthur took a long look at the man and frowned. He knelt next to him and spoke. “Who did this to you? I know how good you are. I’ve never met a man I can’t match and when we dueled you treated me like a toy?”

“Too many of them.” Lancelot mumbled, his words slurred.

Squirrel piped up again. “They were with the red paladins in their camp, but they weren’t red paladins. They had golden faces, and Lancelot killed them all and he survived!”

“Survived may be a strong word, little Squirrel.” Merlin slipped through the spear wielder’s circle and knelt next to Lancelot. He pulled Lancelot’s robes back from his chest to reveal the extent of his wounds and then lay a hand over his forehead. “His wounds have festered and the fever has been set in for some time now. He will need a skilled healer and the grace of the hidden if he is to survive this.”

“And why should we want him to? This man has killed countless fey!” Arthur growled.

“Use your wits, Arthur, his eyes bear the mark of the ash folk. He is fey. Though the ash folk haven’t graced this land with their presence in over a century. I do wonder how this one came to be here.” 

“And that alone is enough to earn forgiveness?”

“No, but his rescuing of squirrel is enough to earn him his life, and perhaps a chance at more.” Merlin beckoned to two spear wielding tusks “you two, come here and carry him to the healer’s cottage. You may point your spears at him there if you like, so long as you give the healer space to do her work.”

The tusks lifted Lancelot’s arms over their shoulders and carried him away. Squirrel made to follow them but Merlin reached out and took him by the arm. 

“I want to see him!”

“I know, there will be plenty of time for that. For now, this beast need watered, fed, and rubbed down.” Merlin pulled the reins over Goliath’s head and pressed them into Squirrel’s hand. “Arthur will go and help you.” 

Arthur tore his glare away from Lancelot’s disappearing figure and nodded. “Come along, little Squirrel,” Arthur smiles teasingly. 

“So what’s his name?” Arthur asked. He was brushing along the horses back as Squirrel worked on his shoulders.

“Goliath.”

“That’s a strong name. He must have needed that strong name to carry the two of you all that distance in so little time.”

“I didn’t stop last night,” Squirrel confesses. “I was worried that if we stopped riding, Lancelot wouldn’t be able to get back on. And I’m still too small to lift him by myself.”

“You’re probably right about that.” 

“Merlin thinks he’s going to die, doesn’t he? That’s why he wouldn’t let me go with him? He doesn’t want me to see him die?”

“I can’t speak for the thoughts of other men.”

“I’ve seen people die before, you know. I saw loads of people die when my village burned. And I saw people die at the mill. And I saw people die in the red camp. It doesn’t scare me, it never did.”

“I saw my first man die when I was about your age. It was my father. I was scared watching him die. But I wasn’t scared because he was dying, I was scared because I knew when he was gone I would be alone. As long as you’re with us, you have nothing to be scared of.”

“But I wasn’t with you when I was with the red paladins. I was with Lancelot when he came to save me. And then I saved him by bringing him back here. That makes him one of us, it has to.” 

Arthur paused, considering. “In a way, I suppose it does.”

///

When Lancelot woke, the mumbled voices were clearer. He could make out most of what was said. He opened his eyes and blinked through the bright light that infiltrated the three walled hut. 

He could see some of the fey that must have been caring for him, but they weren’t watching him now. He tried to pull his arms back to push himself up, but his wrists were chained to the bed frame. The metal dug into his wrists and the chains clattered, but nothing gave. He grunted and tried to pull himself up instead but was unsuccessful. He lay back with a defeated moan. 

“The dead rise!” 

“Merlin.” A moon wing greeted him callously.

“You are quite nearly a miracle.”

“Whe...” Lancelot was stopped by a coughing fit that shook his whole body. 

“Water, Yeva” Merlin called.

The moon wing scowled, seeming to despise the magicians' very existence. But she filled a cup and pushed it against his lips and he drank graciously. When he spoke again, his voice was scratchy and sore from neglect. “Where is Percival?”

“Who?” 

“The boy. He calls himself Squirrel.”

Merlin chuckled. “He’s in a lot better shape then you, I promise that.”

“Shall I go fetch him, Merlin?” A faun asked

“Yes, do that.”

///

Squirrel ran into the hut like a whirlwind and threw himself onto Lancelot. Lancelot grunted in surprise. “Gentle, little warrior,” he laughed. 

“Sorry!” Squirrel said. He slid off and wrapped his little arms around Lancelot’s chest. “Why do they have you chained up?”

“They don’t trust me. But that’s alright. They’re just trying to protect the people here.”

Squirrel frowned but nodded. “I don’t like it.” 

“It’s alright, I promise.”

“I told them you saved my life, but they still don’t like you.”

“I’ve killed too many of them for one life to matter now, even one as precious as yours, my little warrior.”

Squirrel grinned, embarrassed. “But I saved your life too. I brought you back here so that they could heal you.”

“Indeed you did. I suppose that makes us even.” 

“Merlin, unchain him!” Squirrel insisted.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. The decision isn’t mine to make.”

“Fine, then whose is it?”

“Kaze’s. She’s in charge of defense of the camp, including the handling of its prisoners.”

“If he’s a prisoner then he should be my prisoner. I’m the one that brought him here.”

“Let it go, Percival. This fight isn’t worth it, I promise you.” Lancelot cautioned. 

“I don’t like it. I won’t just let it go.” Squirrel insisted. “Anyra, where is Kaze?”

“Preparing to leave on patrol before too long.” A young faun girl replied.

“Go fetch her. Tell her I need to speak with her first.”

Lancelot sighed. “You shouldn’t have done that. You don’t understand, do you, how much pain I’ve caused them, how much of a leniency it is that they let me live?”

“Arthur wanted them to let you die, but he’s always saying things like that.”

“He’s not the only one that would have said it, I promise you.”

“And Merlin thought you were going to die anyway.” Squirrel glanced at the magician standing behind him. “He wouldn’t let me see you because he didn’t think you would survive your wounds.”

Kaze entered the hut and spoke without wasting time. “What can I do for you, Squirrel?”

“I demand that you unchain my prisoner at once.”

Kaze chuckled a bit and smiled softly. “Demand? Your prisoner?”

“Yes! I brought him here. He’s mine.”

“But it is not only your life at stake now, is it?” Kaze asked. 

“He won’t hurt anyone.”

“That’s not a gamble I can take, Squirrel.”

“So he’s just supposed to stay chained here forever?”

“No, once he is better we’ll move him elsewhere. We need the space here for others.”

“So he’s supposed to stay chained here until then?”

Kaze sighed. “Yeva, tell me how he is?”

“Stronger than I would have expected, given his wounds and the fever. He tried to sit up this morning. I think he could have if the chains hadn’t stopped him.”

“Do you think he’s a danger?”

Yeva hummed. “No, he seems placid, though I wouldn’t want him wandering.”

Kaze nodded thoughtfully. “And what do you have to say for yourself, monk?”

“To be honest, not killing me on sight was more than I deserved. Healing me? The kindness is beyond my understanding. Your little Squirrel asks for more than I would dare. I have no intentions of harming anyone here, but I have nothing in my past to prove my words to you. You will do what you must to protect your people.”

“’ll unchain one wrist. That will let you move a bit. Try anything and I’ll chain your wrists and your ankles too.”

Lancelot flexed his hand gratefully when the restraint was removed. Squirrel threw himself on Lancelot’s chest again and this time, Lancelot was able to wrap an arm around the boy to pull him closer. 

“Squirrel, we leave on patrol now, do you want to come with us?”

“No, I’m staying with lancelot until you let him go.” Squirrel insisted.”

Lancelot pushed him back a bit. “Don’t worry for me, brave little warrior. Run along now, I’ll be fine.”

Squirrel frowned a bit but nodded and hopped over to Kaze. She put a gentle hand over his shoulder and led him away. 

///

“The Green Knight is back!” The excited cries echoed through the camp.

Lancelot wove his way through the huts and made it to the edge of the clearing in time to see Squirrel throw himself into the knights arms.

“Squirrel! You made it! When I couldn’t find you I thought the worst! How did you escape?”

Gawain looked up and his eyes met Lancelot’s. Lancelot gave him a nervous hint of a smile. 

“My brother,” Gawain said, walking toward him. “I thought my words had fallen on deaf ears.”

“Not deaf yet.”

Gawain threw his arms around Lancelot’s shoulders and pulled him into his embrace.


End file.
